Drop Bars, 1990's MTB's, & "Gravel Bikes"

Singular Cycles Gryphon Mk3

I cruise Facebook Marketplace every day to monitor used bicycle prices so I can be more effective in pricing used bicycles for the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective. 

Since I am there often, I see a lot of trends and one of these is the trend to put a 1X drive train on a 1990's MTB, slap a drop bar on it, and call it a "gravel bike". Tack on about $200.00 minimum more than it is worth, and try to sell it as a viable bicycle for gravel/MTB. 

This is something I thought would go away, but since it persists, I feel as though a few things need to be pointed out about why a bicycle like what I am seeing put up for sale on Facebook Marketplace is not a gravel bike. It isn't even a good MTB because most of these drop bars are set up with no regard to ergonomics.

It is an issue because "gravel" sells, so I get that, but if there ever was a case of "buyer beware", this is certainly one that fits the bill.

I've written a lot about proper drop bar fitment to flat bar designed MTB's and you can find that under the "Archived Drop Bar Articles" tab under the blog header here.  The article that speaks most directly to the issues of 1990's MTB's and drop bars can be read HERE. 

It is pretty obvious to my eyes that many, if not all, of the 1990's MTB's I see being offered as "gravel bikes" are set up with total disregard for where the drop bar ends up in space, and shows no knowledge of where one should ride a drop bar equipped MTB when it comes to hand placement on the bars.  

Tall stack height, proper lever placement = GOOD

Then we can look at geometry. Those old 1990's MTB's were based on a geometry which many people have no idea about, so this leads to a lot of mistakes when it comes to assuming that one could actually make a 1990's MTB into anything nearly as nice as a properly designed gravel bike. 

At the risk of reading like some sort of gatekeeper here, there is a big difference in a bicycle designed from scratch to do a particular task versus one that has been, at best, haphazardly adapted to be something it was never meant to be. 

1990's MTB geometry was set up so that a rider would have a lot of weight over the front wheel, a flatter back than not, and lots of exposed seat post. This "forward biased" seated position was done for racing, not for the average person to enjoy casually. In other words, the cycling industry was foisting a bike not well suited to the average person, as it is wont to do, and has done off and on for decades. Slapping a drop bar on one of these relics makes matters worse, and especially if one does so with no regard to adapting the drop bar to address the issues with that old "NORBA geometry". 

Actual 26"er drop bar conversion shown with issues.

Not that a 1990's hard tail MTB cannot be enjoyed. They can make wonderful bicycles, but you need to know what you are dealing with, and how certain choices in equipment need specialized adaptations to work their best. 

If one understands what they are working with, makes wise choices, and decides to use a 1990's bike for gravel, this can and sometimes does work out well enough. But beware of the shiny, nostalgic "retro-modded" 1990's drop bar "gravel bike" offerings. Most are not done very well, in my opinion. 

Most of these conversions do not take the drop bar adding more cockpit length into consideration. Most do not get the drops up high enough either. This tends to stretch out riders too far, and the drop extensions become, essentially, useless. 

And let's not ignore the many 700c gravel bikes which are set up weirdly. Just because a bike has 700c wheels and was intentionally designed as a gravel bike does not give immunity from poor set up. 

So, that's what I am seeing and now you can be aware of why such conversions often fall short of being viable for most people as not only a "gravel bike", but as a mountain bike as well.

Blurred Lines

The Nordest Super Albarda. (Image courtesy of Nordest)

Big tires, slacker head tube angles, longer top tubes, shorter stems. This seems to be a trend in certain circles of the "gravel" cycling design world. 

Today I wanted to explore where I think this idea is coming from and why I think it is a design idea that is trying to fill a niche that is not being served by many brands currently. 

First of all, the "all-roads" part of "gravel bikes" is not going away, but there is an element of the gravel cycling movement that isn't about roads, necessarily, and has its roots going way back into the earlier years of mountain biking. 

Some of this has cross-over to bikepacking/adventure bikes, but I feel like what we are seeing with some of these more "mountain-bikish" drop bar rigs is not tied to touring/bike packing, but to what the style of riding was back in the late 1980's and early 1990's. A time when riding off-road was done on fully-rigid, and yes, sometimes drop bar equipped bicycles. 

Bikes like the featured Nordest Super Albarda, shown above, have a lot more in common with the late 1980's than most mountain bikes from the 2020's do. Although many elements of current design thought are integrated into these new bikes, like the longer top tube/short stem, lower bottom bracket, and steeper seat tube angles. Of course, the wheel size is completely different, being based upon 700c instead of balloon-tired Schwinn cruiser wheels, and having nearly 29"er wheel diameters.

Image courtesy of Salty & Stupid Cycling

So why would anyone want to mix a style of riding from the last century with modern hard tail design cues and use drop bars? That may be too difficult a question to answer here, but I would say it has a lot to do with the lack of gravel roads in most places. 

Most areas of the world do not have gravel roads like Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska. Roads that are predominantly crushed rock, usually limestone, and criss-cross the prairies and rolling hills in a network of confusing patterns for thousands of miles.

But many parts of the world do have dirt roads. Some have rocky dirt, some smoother, but most places have unpaved byways, and many have paths and "singletrack" to ride off of those roads. Places like the mountain West of the USA, or the Appalachians, or even in Europe and elsewhere where crushed rock is rare and rougher tracks exist that don't necessarily require a full-suspension "enduro" bike to ride across. 

These "in between" areas are perfect places for fully rigid bicycles and lend themselves to drop bars due to some connecting roads and more open, wind-prone areas. Gravel bikes, in the traditional sense, are perhaps a bit too disadvantaged in some of these areas, but given a bike with the capabilities of some of these MTB/gravel hybrids, with bigger tires, 700c diameter, and modern geometry for MTB hard tails, and that sort of "under-bike" is maybe appealing in a way that a more traditional, suspended hardtail is not. They would definitely be more agile and lighter than a fully suspended MTB. 

Some of these drop-bar "underbike" design cues can be traced back to early 29"ers, like this Fisher prototype. (Image courtesy of Gary Fisher)

This type of riding was once served by the average MTB from the 1990's, but when things morphed to "long-travel" and then "enduro", the type of simple bike that was once the meat of off-road riding was no longer available. Big, long travel suspension forks also were a reason why hard tail bikes went a certain direction, forcing geometry choices that were not conducive to drop bar use, and made hard tail MTB bikes into more downhill oriented machines rather than the all-around off-roader. 

Pushing gravel bikes into this category of more off-road capable geometry and tire size was then seen as an appealing thing for many cyclists that wanted the light weight, snappier feel of gravel bikes and drop bars as well. Not necessarily a bike festooned with accessory mounts either, but a good, all-around bike that was simple, lower maintenance, and forced a bit of skill and challenge to the forefront of riding. 

All this has served to blur the lines between "gravel" and "off-road" cycling to the point that perhaps someday most drop bar bikes with larger than 45mm tires will be more like the Nordest bike than not. We will see, but it is an interesting development in "gravel" cycling.

Some Plans For Series Posts

 It was suggested to me by a reader of this blog on Wednesday this past week that I might want to think about providing an easier way for readers to go back into a series, such as the current "Trans Iowa Stories", and look up older posts. This particular reader had not been able to keep up to date and was digging backward through the blog to find the posts he had missed. 

I also had been considering ways that I could add the blog series "The Touring Series" to the header as a page, and perhaps work it up into book form at some point. Well, this particular reader sparked a couple of ideas and I wanted to share how I'm implementing the plan to make getting back into these series easier. 

First of all, the Trans Iowa stuff all has the tag "TRANS IOWA STORIES" at the end of each post. I did not know that you could hyperlink that and it would pull up the series in backward chronological order. Note- You still have to scroll back to get to where you want to be, but at least you have just "Trans Iowa Stories" posts to dig through! 

The other thought was to put up a page here where I could list each title and date and have that hyperlinked to take you directly to that post. No need to scroll. I think that's the reader's preference here, but that idea is a lot more work too. 

So, I have taken the opportunity to put the tag link in the header on the far right of the page. It is listed under the heading "My Events and Websites" and is simply titled "Trans Iowa Stories". Hit that and you will see every "Trans Iowa Stories" post listed from the latest published and then chronologically backward to the start. You'll have to scroll a lot, as there are well over 70 entries in that series now. Each new post that gets published will automatically appear on that list due to the tag. NOTE- Some posts that are not actually part of the series, but have news about the series in it and are tagged, "Trans Iowa Stories", will also show up there, so it isn't a perfect system.

So, for those that can't deal with that, I also built the page where all 70 plus links will live to take you back to wherever you want to go in the series. These are dated and titled. They are also listed in chronological order from first to last. This should allow for a quick and easy reference, or allow you to go back and read through sections you missed or want to re-read for the fun of it. The link is just under the header as "Trans Iowa Stories". I'll add new ones as I go. New ones may not go up immediately, but I'll try to keep that list up to date.

I'm going to get this done for the touring posts as well, but that will come later.  As a side note: I also put up a page about drop bars which has a couple of old articles by drop bar MTB aficionado, Matt Chester. Okay, if that all makes sense, then great, but if you have further thoughts concerning the plans, let me know in the comments! 

UPDATED: I also got "The Touring Series" up. It's listed under the header as well! ENJOY! 

As always- Thank You for Reading Guitar Ted Productions!

Some Plans For Series Posts

 It was suggested to me by a reader of this blog on Wednesday this past week that I might want to think about providing an easier way for readers to go back into a series, such as the current "Trans Iowa Stories", and look up older posts. This particular reader had not been able to keep up to date and was digging backward through the blog to find the posts he had missed. 

I also had been considering ways that I could add the blog series "The Touring Series" to the header as a page, and perhaps work it up into book form at some point. Well, this particular reader sparked a couple of ideas and I wanted to share how I'm implementing the plan to make getting back into these series easier. 

First of all, the Trans Iowa stuff all has the tag "TRANS IOWA STORIES" at the end of each post. I did not know that you could hyperlink that and it would pull up the series in backward chronological order. Note- You still have to scroll back to get to where you want to be, but at least you have just "Trans Iowa Stories" posts to dig through! 

The other thought was to put up a page here where I could list each title and date and have that hyperlinked to take you directly to that post. No need to scroll. I think that's the reader's preference here, but that idea is a lot more work too. 

So, I have taken the opportunity to put the tag link in the header on the far right of the page. It is listed under the heading "My Events and Websites" and is simply titled "Trans Iowa Stories". Hit that and you will see every "Trans Iowa Stories" post listed from the latest published and then chronologically backward to the start. You'll have to scroll a lot, as there are well over 70 entries in that series now. Each new post that gets published will automatically appear on that list due to the tag. NOTE- Some posts that are not actually part of the series, but have news about the series in it and are tagged, "Trans Iowa Stories", will also show up there, so it isn't a perfect system.

So, for those that can't deal with that, I also built the page where all 70 plus links will live to take you back to wherever you want to go in the series. These are dated and titled. They are also listed in chronological order from first to last. This should allow for a quick and easy reference, or allow you to go back and read through sections you missed or want to re-read for the fun of it. The link is just under the header as "Trans Iowa Stories". I'll add new ones as I go. New ones may not go up immediately, but I'll try to keep that list up to date.

I'm going to get this done for the touring posts as well, but that will come later.  As a side note: I also put up a page about drop bars which has a couple of old articles by drop bar MTB aficionado, Matt Chester. Okay, if that all makes sense, then great, but if you have further thoughts concerning the plans, let me know in the comments! 

UPDATED: I also got "The Touring Series" up. It's listed under the header as well! ENJOY! 

As always- Thank You for Reading Guitar Ted Productions!

On One Inbred: To Stubborn To Die

The On One Inbred circa 2006

Okay folks, if you are a long time reader of this blog, you know the story of this bike goes back.......like waaaaay back! This was a bike I had, really liked, got rid of, wished I had back, never thought I'd see again, and ended up getting it back! That almost never happens.

It is a bike that has some special meaning to me for a couple of reasons. I used it on my first attempt at the very first Dirty Kanza 200 in 2006. I also used it in 2007 when I was part of a team of 4 at a 12 hour MTB event which our team won. (Never mind we were the only 4 man team entered into the 12 hour event!)

The bike rode like a really nice steel framed bike should- smooooove! Yes, that is a technical term, and I am sorry if it leaves you baffled, but there is no other way to describe this in the English language. <==HA!

Anyway, one ting led to another. I got the reviewing gigs, parts and bike were piling up. The Inbred wasn't getting used. A co-worker expressed interest in it and purchased it from me with the caveat that I had first dibs on it if it were to be sold by him. Of course, he loved the bike. Why wouldn't he? It was great. He passed it on to his brother, and then it fell out of my reckoning. You can read a bit about that, and what happened to the original fork here.

The bike that replaced the Inbred was my OS Bikes Blackbuck, so I did well with that! At least it wasn't a downgrade, and arguably, it was a better bike, being single speed specific, which I was more into. Still am, actually. This '05 Inbred was a "compromise" bike. Neither single speed nor geared, it had provisions for both things.

This is myself at the first DK200. Image by the late Joel Dyke

So, back then I figured I had done the right thing, but that Inbred haunted me. I still liked the way it rode a lot. Then I had the chance to get into a single speed specific rendition of the Inbred a few years later. I thought, I hoped that it would be the same bike. That smooth riding machine that I used to have, only now in single speed specific form.

Well, despite the fact that the "Inbred the 2nd" rode really well as a single speed, it wasn't that bike that I remembered. It was stiffer, and well.......different. I still have it, by the way, and it works well for what it is, but it wasn't what I had remembered from the original bike.

But then it didn't matter, really. I mean, I wasn't ever going to see that original bike again. I had moved on anyway. I was into 'gravel bikes' now. Not MTB. "Real" gravel bikes weren't like that original On One Inbred. We had 'adventure warts' and carbon forks, and decent, well thought out gravel bike geometry. What in the heck would I do with that old Inbred anyway? I didn't need another single speed, much less another single speed mountain bike. I already have some of those!

But it was my second 29"er, and I am sentimental and all that. Bad things when you like stuff like bicycles and guitars! So, I knew that if my old co-worker ever rang me up and said that the ol' Inbred was up for sale that I'd likely bite the bullet and pay whatever price it was going to be to get it back. Whatever the condition of it was at the time. Scary thought, but probably true.

Then one day about four years ago.......

Maybe some of you long time readers will remember that in May of 2016 I came into work at my old job and there was my old Inbred! Sitting on my bench, partially built up! What?!! Well, the guy I sold it to had gotten it back from his brother and remembered that I still wanted first dibs on it. But instead of having me buy it, he just gifted it to me! I was blown away by his gesture, and still am.

The only bad thing? No fork, and these were bikes designed around 80mm travel suspension forks. Somewhat like early 90's MTB's designed around 63mm travel forks, these early 29"ers really don't like longer forks. So, the project sat stuck in nuetral. But......I had the old bike back! 

There was a carbon fork for this bike with an aluminum crown, but I sold it as well, since I had zero use for it with no Inbred to put it on. (The SS specific Inbred was 100mm travel compatible) Then the OG steel fork came back, but it was battered and beaten until cracked. No good! Again, you can read all about that here.

The Inbred as it sits now in 2020.

Obviously, the carbon fork got bought back, and so I was able to reassemble the bike. I decided against going with a single speed in the end since, as I said above, I really don't need that bike. I did go with a sort of Fargo-ish build, since the 18" Inbred was a tad on the short side for me anyway. That plays perfectly into a drop bar build, and so that's what I did. It is a hodge-podge of parts that I had about. The controls and handle bar were take-offs from my old Gen 2 Fargo. The set up comes from the 2015 attempt of the DK200- A ten speed Gevenalle shifter on a 9 speed cassette. Yes- that is not supposed to work and don't try it. I only have ridden about a thousand miles with it that way. That's all! Anyway, that will get changed soon as I have a ten speed cassette coming available from another bike I own. The wheels were originally some Velocity hoops laced to Velocity hubs, but I did not like that set of wheels. So, I sold them. These wheels are the take-offs from the (Trek) Sawyer I have. The front shifter is a bar-con friction shifter. Brakes are ancient Avid BB-7's.

This bike will be getting that aforementioned cassette, new red bar tape, and then it should be good to go. This wheel and tire combination seems to suit the bike far better than the older one, so I have high hopes that this set up will end up being the one I stick with. These new Tearavail Ehline 2.3"ers on the wheels are pretty fast and feel great. Much, much better than the WTB Rangers I tried before. The Sawyer's old wheels, a Deore hubbed Bontrager Duster set up, are merely workmanlike and nothing special, so maybe, if I end up sticking with this for the foreseeable future, I will upgrade.

And that brings the Inbred back to life and into 2020. If you'd have asked me about this bike in 2015, I would have laughed. It's been a long road back for the ol' thing. Guess I got lucky to even have a second go at it.

On One Inbred: To Stubborn To Die

The On One Inbred circa 2006

Okay folks, if you are a long time reader of this blog, you know the story of this bike goes back.......like waaaaay back! This was a bike I had, really liked, got rid of, wished I had back, never thought I'd see again, and ended up getting it back! That almost never happens.

It is a bike that has some special meaning to me for a couple of reasons. I used it on my first attempt at the very first Dirty Kanza 200 in 2006. I also used it in 2007 when I was part of a team of 4 at a 12 hour MTB event which our team won. (Never mind we were the only 4 man team entered into the 12 hour event!)

The bike rode like a really nice steel framed bike should- smooooove! Yes, that is a technical term, and I am sorry if it leaves you baffled, but there is no other way to describe this in the English language. <==HA!

Anyway, one ting led to another. I got the reviewing gigs, parts and bike were piling up. The Inbred wasn't getting used. A co-worker expressed interest in it and purchased it from me with the caveat that I had first dibs on it if it were to be sold by him. Of course, he loved the bike. Why wouldn't he? It was great. He passed it on to his brother, and then it fell out of my reckoning. You can read a bit about that, and what happened to the original fork here.

The bike that replaced the Inbred was my OS Bikes Blackbuck, so I did well with that! At least it wasn't a downgrade, and arguably, it was a better bike, being single speed specific, which I was more into. Still am, actually. This '05 Inbred was a "compromise" bike. Neither single speed nor geared, it had provisions for both things.

This is myself at the first DK200. Image by the late Joel Dyke

So, back then I figured I had done the right thing, but that Inbred haunted me. I still liked the way it rode a lot. Then I had the chance to get into a single speed specific rendition of the Inbred a few years later. I thought, I hoped that it would be the same bike. That smooth riding machine that I used to have, only now in single speed specific form.

Well, despite the fact that the "Inbred the 2nd" rode really well as a single speed, it wasn't that bike that I remembered. It was stiffer, and well.......different. I still have it, by the way, and it works well for what it is, but it wasn't what I had remembered from the original bike.

But then it didn't matter, really. I mean, I wasn't ever going to see that original bike again. I had moved on anyway. I was into 'gravel bikes' now. Not MTB. "Real" gravel bikes weren't like that original On One Inbred. We had 'adventure warts' and carbon forks, and decent, well thought out gravel bike geometry. What in the heck would I do with that old Inbred anyway? I didn't need another single speed, much less another single speed mountain bike. I already have some of those!

But it was my second 29"er, and I am sentimental and all that. Bad things when you like stuff like bicycles and guitars! So, I knew that if my old co-worker ever rang me up and said that the ol' Inbred was up for sale that I'd likely bite the bullet and pay whatever price it was going to be to get it back. Whatever the condition of it was at the time. Scary thought, but probably true.

Then one day about four years ago.......

Maybe some of you long time readers will remember that in May of 2016 I came into work at my old job and there was my old Inbred! Sitting on my bench, partially built up! What?!! Well, the guy I sold it to had gotten it back from his brother and remembered that I still wanted first dibs on it. But instead of having me buy it, he just gifted it to me! I was blown away by his gesture, and still am.

The only bad thing? No fork, and these were bikes designed around 80mm travel suspension forks. Somewhat like early 90's MTB's designed around 63mm travel forks, these early 29"ers really don't like longer forks. So, the project sat stuck in nuetral. But......I had the old bike back! 

There was a carbon fork for this bike with an aluminum crown, but I sold it as well, since I had zero use for it with no Inbred to put it on. (The SS specific Inbred was 100mm travel compatible) Then the OG steel fork came back, but it was battered and beaten until cracked. No good! Again, you can read all about that here.

The Inbred as it sits now in 2020.

Obviously, the carbon fork got bought back, and so I was able to reassemble the bike. I decided against going with a single speed in the end since, as I said above, I really don't need that bike. I did go with a sort of Fargo-ish build, since the 18" Inbred was a tad on the short side for me anyway. That plays perfectly into a drop bar build, and so that's what I did. It is a hodge-podge of parts that I had about. The controls and handle bar were take-offs from my old Gen 2 Fargo. The set up comes from the 2015 attempt of the DK200- A ten speed Gevenalle shifter on a 9 speed cassette. Yes- that is not supposed to work and don't try it. I only have ridden about a thousand miles with it that way. That's all! Anyway, that will get changed soon as I have a ten speed cassette coming available from another bike I own. The wheels were originally some Velocity hoops laced to Velocity hubs, but I did not like that set of wheels. So, I sold them. These wheels are the take-offs from the (Trek) Sawyer I have. The front shifter is a bar-con friction shifter. Brakes are ancient Avid BB-7's.

This bike will be getting that aforementioned cassette, new red bar tape, and then it should be good to go. This wheel and tire combination seems to suit the bike far better than the older one, so I have high hopes that this set up will end up being the one I stick with. These new Tearavail Ehline 2.3"ers on the wheels are pretty fast and feel great. Much, much better than the WTB Rangers I tried before. The Sawyer's old wheels, a Deore hubbed Bontrager Duster set up, are merely workmanlike and nothing special, so maybe, if I end up sticking with this for the foreseeable future, I will upgrade.

And that brings the Inbred back to life and into 2020. If you'd have asked me about this bike in 2015, I would have laughed. It's been a long road back for the ol' thing. Guess I got lucky to even have a second go at it.

Friday News And Views

Orange Seal valve kit for tubeless applications

Bling Time:

Back in the 1990's when I started working at a bicycle shop, it was the heyday for anodized parts. You could get almost anything in a rainbow of bright colors. Even crank bolts were anodized, which was a bad idea, by the way.

Then came the 'dark days" of everything being black anodized. Uggh! So bland and lifeless! You could hardly find anything in a color other than black for many years, But thankfully those days seem to be behind us now.

There are now a lot more things you can get to dress up your bike that have color. Orange Seal recently sent out some sealant, tape, and this fancy valve kit to RidingGravel.com for review. (Note- I did not pay for this kit and I am not being paid to say anything about it here.)

Back in the 90's, it was kind of comical because when anodized parts came out in any certain year, it was always a situation where one color seemed to dominate. One year it would be "ultraviolet", and everything would be anodized that color. The next season it would be turquoise, and then red. Things would not sell well if the color wasn't "hot", and retailers got bent about getting stuck with all that purple stuff when blue ano got hot, and on and on. Fashion plates, we mountain bikers were. Terribly vain.

I won't even get into how one company's blue would be lighter than another company's blue, so parts wouldn't matchy-match. Oh the drama!

So, that whole, "Let's just make EVERYTHING black!" mode we went through is completely understandable now. But it looks as though the color barrier has been broken, and now you get a choice in which colors you want. Don't like red? Doesn't match your bike? Fine, use the orange ano bits. I like that about this kit.

What I am not sold on, and this goes for most all tubeless valve kits, by the way, is that we keep using these silly Presta valve nuts. Who can tighten those properly without using a pliers or some tool to generate enough force to create a seal on the inside of the rim/valve interface? Now if they were a different shape, (see Problem Solvers bit here), then yeah. Make those and have colors, but these goofy little bits are almost useless, and made from aluminum? Yeah...... Double that for the valve itself. I'm not a big fan of the aluminum valve stems. Those threads aren't necessarily up to the task of handling a lot of torque necessary to create a seal on the base of the valve. We will see.......

The Effects Of This Pandemic On The Bike Industry And Locally:

So, I thought I would take this space on the weekly FN&V to give you all an update on what this crazy situation has done internationally, nationally, and locally to the world of bike shops and cycling in general. Obviously ALL facets of our lives have been disrupted, but this will focus only on the bicycling bits.

Internationally supply factories and supply chains are reeling from closures and travel restrictions. Some factories are coming back online but in a new, limited fashion to protect employees, (at least in Europe), but many European factories remain closed and may not open until mid-April. This means that spotty availability of parts is to be expected. Baby those drive train parts folks, because things like chains, cassettes, and chain rings will be hard to come by later this year. SRAM makes most of their chains in Europe, as an example, where factories are shuttered for the most part. We're also hearing Shimano will be short on chains and cassettes. So, think twice before you go off into that gritty mud and nasty road you wanted to get into on your adventures this year.

Furthermore; European companies are reportedly slashing R&D, marketing, and staffing numbers by up to 70% in some cases. This will translate into fewer new products, less "news and reviews", and a generally quiet front in several cases from many brands. Plus, yesterday the biggest distributor in the US, Quality Bicycle Products, axed a bunch of people from their employment roster. I happen to know a few of these folks. Sad to see it......

Nationally bike shops are all over the place with service and in being open at all. Some shops are slammed while others are seeing less business, while others are closed up for the foreseeable future due to the pandemic and/or local and state decrees. Most, however; have been deemed "essential businesses", and are open in limited fashion. Appointment and online shopping options with shipping or drop off/pick up services are now being offered versus open door situations which were the norm before all this happened.

Locally we are mostly doing okay. We have a big network of recreational trails and with almost every social gathering place off-limits now, the recreational opportunities are seeing heavy pressure. Shops are using closed door, by appointment, deliver/pick-up options with online shopping as a means to service the area. Specifically to me, I am wrenching on tune-ups and doing service work while Andy does the pick-up/delivery service. I've been able to stay safe and busy so far.

While I don't know what the future has in store, I can say that I've never seen so many people walking, running, or cycling in this area as I have this week since the weather broke. (Well, for most people. I don't go by such temperature restrictions) This new pressure on recreational facilities and areas has actually caused some governments to shut down these areas due to fears that people are not social distancing themselves. I can say that this is likely the case here, that people are not practicing strict social distancing, but again- who knows? When you see two people walking together, how do you know if they live together, or are from separate households? You don't. It's a crazy game and there are no good answers short of enforcing martial law to make sure social distancing is practiced..

On a lighter note, I see nationally where air pollution has subsided to the point where local sensors in the New York area are so low that the monitors are indicating that they are malfunctioning! Record clean air measurements are being recorded in the Los Angles area. One has to wonder that these days aren't telling us something about how we have lived, and how wrong a lot of that was.

One of my favorite images from last year was from the morning of the Renegade Gent's Race.

 No Gent's Race Weekend Blues: 

Well, who knows what will happen, and maybe a LOT of things won't happen in regards to events, but I do know that the Renegade Gent's Race was supposed to be happening tomorrow.

Now the streak has ended.......

Ten years ago I was invited to do a funky event where five people were to ride together and complete a metric-ish century on gravel. The team had to stay together and work together. I was invited by Trans Iowa rider/photographer/volunteer, Steve Fuller to join him and three other guys I'd never met before to do this thing with a bunch of Des Moines area folks I didn't know either. I was a bit anxious about it all, because, well, cycling folk could be clique-ish and maybe I would not get on with these people. I had no idea what to expect.

Turns out I made some really good new friends out of the deal. The three new folks to me, Sam, Dave, and Bob, all were really great folks. I came to look forward to each April afterward as my chance to reconnect with them and have a good time. Sometimes too good of a time. Ah! Memories..... Made several on those past Gent's race weekends. Look for a special "Gent's Race Review" on the blog tomorrow which will show some of the images from the past years of this event.

Again, who knows what will happen. The organizers are still thinking and whether there is a Gent's Race later in the fall or next year, I don't know one way or the other. I do know that this could be it. And tomorrow would have been a decade of Gent's races. I'll be riding tomorrow solo and doing some reminiscing along the way. I'm sure I'll be smiling too......

The upcoming Black Mountain Cycles LaCabra

 Black Mountain Cycles Announces LaCabra:

Well, if you follow me here you know well my love for the Black Mountain Cycles brand, so this should come as no surprise. Black Mountain Cycles has teased a new model and I like it! 

Mike Varley, the brains behind the brand, designed this rig as a drop bar, rigid only mountain bike capable of accepting 650B X 2.8" or 29" X 2.4" tires. This rig will have multiple mounting points and can be set up 1X or 2X as far as drive trains are concerned.

So, a wider tire compatible MCD then? No- not really. This bike will likely not take big chain rings like the MCD, so we're talking a bike more like a Fargo. In fact, I would say that besides the LaCabra not being single speed compatible, this bike out-Fargos a Fargo. MTB drive train, big tires, and no need to have a suspension fork. The details of the frame look very "MCD-ish", but I am sure component capabilities will place this firmly in the Fargo/Cutthroat category, as far as bikes go.

Do I want one? Well.....duh! Do I need one? Hmm...... Here's where I stand on that. The LaCabra, if indeed it makes it into reality- let's not forget the changes we've seen in less than a month already - well, this could be my main mountain bike. Plus, I could see this becoming the sort of bike I'd take to certain places like West Central Nebraska, (Odin's Territory) to ride, or to a wetter event, or just to go camping with. I could see this being set up with the poofy 650B X 2.8's and my current Fargo being the 700c bike. I basically had that same set up with the old Fargo Gen 2 I used to have here. That bike carried me through most of the muddy year at DK, and at Odin's the last time I rode out there.

Anyway, it is a pipe dream until it isn't. So, we'll see......


That's it for this week! Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope that you all are staying healthy, safe, and still getting out on rides.

Friday News And Views

Orange Seal valve kit for tubeless applications

Bling Time:

Back in the 1990's when I started working at a bicycle shop, it was the heyday for anodized parts. You could get almost anything in a rainbow of bright colors. Even crank bolts were anodized, which was a bad idea, by the way.

Then came the 'dark days" of everything being black anodized. Uggh! So bland and lifeless! You could hardly find anything in a color other than black for many years, But thankfully those days seem to be behind us now.

There are now a lot more things you can get to dress up your bike that have color. Orange Seal recently sent out some sealant, tape, and this fancy valve kit to RidingGravel.com for review. (Note- I did not pay for this kit and I am not being paid to say anything about it here.)

Back in the 90's, it was kind of comical because when anodized parts came out in any certain year, it was always a situation where one color seemed to dominate. One year it would be "ultraviolet", and everything would be anodized that color. The next season it would be turquoise, and then red. Things would not sell well if the color wasn't "hot", and retailers got bent about getting stuck with all that purple stuff when blue ano got hot, and on and on. Fashion plates, we mountain bikers were. Terribly vain.

I won't even get into how one company's blue would be lighter than another company's blue, so parts wouldn't matchy-match. Oh the drama!

So, that whole, "Let's just make EVERYTHING black!" mode we went through is completely understandable now. But it looks as though the color barrier has been broken, and now you get a choice in which colors you want. Don't like red? Doesn't match your bike? Fine, use the orange ano bits. I like that about this kit.

What I am not sold on, and this goes for most all tubeless valve kits, by the way, is that we keep using these silly Presta valve nuts. Who can tighten those properly without using a pliers or some tool to generate enough force to create a seal on the inside of the rim/valve interface? Now if they were a different shape, (see Problem Solvers bit here), then yeah. Make those and have colors, but these goofy little bits are almost useless, and made from aluminum? Yeah...... Double that for the valve itself. I'm not a big fan of the aluminum valve stems. Those threads aren't necessarily up to the task of handling a lot of torque necessary to create a seal on the base of the valve. We will see.......

The Effects Of This Pandemic On The Bike Industry And Locally:

So, I thought I would take this space on the weekly FN&V to give you all an update on what this crazy situation has done internationally, nationally, and locally to the world of bike shops and cycling in general. Obviously ALL facets of our lives have been disrupted, but this will focus only on the bicycling bits.

Internationally supply factories and supply chains are reeling from closures and travel restrictions. Some factories are coming back online but in a new, limited fashion to protect employees, (at least in Europe), but many European factories remain closed and may not open until mid-April. This means that spotty availability of parts is to be expected. Baby those drive train parts folks, because things like chains, cassettes, and chain rings will be hard to come by later this year. SRAM makes most of their chains in Europe, as an example, where factories are shuttered for the most part. We're also hearing Shimano will be short on chains and cassettes. So, think twice before you go off into that gritty mud and nasty road you wanted to get into on your adventures this year.

Furthermore; European companies are reportedly slashing R&D, marketing, and staffing numbers by up to 70% in some cases. This will translate into fewer new products, less "news and reviews", and a generally quiet front in several cases from many brands. Plus, yesterday the biggest distributor in the US, Quality Bicycle Products, axed a bunch of people from their employment roster. I happen to know a few of these folks. Sad to see it......

Nationally bike shops are all over the place with service and in being open at all. Some shops are slammed while others are seeing less business, while others are closed up for the foreseeable future due to the pandemic and/or local and state decrees. Most, however; have been deemed "essential businesses", and are open in limited fashion. Appointment and online shopping options with shipping or drop off/pick up services are now being offered versus open door situations which were the norm before all this happened.

Locally we are mostly doing okay. We have a big network of recreational trails and with almost every social gathering place off-limits now, the recreational opportunities are seeing heavy pressure. Shops are using closed door, by appointment, deliver/pick-up options with online shopping as a means to service the area. Specifically to me, I am wrenching on tune-ups and doing service work while Andy does the pick-up/delivery service. I've been able to stay safe and busy so far.

While I don't know what the future has in store, I can say that I've never seen so many people walking, running, or cycling in this area as I have this week since the weather broke. (Well, for most people. I don't go by such temperature restrictions) This new pressure on recreational facilities and areas has actually caused some governments to shut down these areas due to fears that people are not social distancing themselves. I can say that this is likely the case here, that people are not practicing strict social distancing, but again- who knows? When you see two people walking together, how do you know if they live together, or are from separate households? You don't. It's a crazy game and there are no good answers short of enforcing martial law to make sure social distancing is practiced..

On a lighter note, I see nationally where air pollution has subsided to the point where local sensors in the New York area are so low that the monitors are indicating that they are malfunctioning! Record clean air measurements are being recorded in the Los Angles area. One has to wonder that these days aren't telling us something about how we have lived, and how wrong a lot of that was.

One of my favorite images from last year was from the morning of the Renegade Gent's Race.

 No Gent's Race Weekend Blues: 

Well, who knows what will happen, and maybe a LOT of things won't happen in regards to events, but I do know that the Renegade Gent's Race was supposed to be happening tomorrow.

Now the streak has ended.......

Ten years ago I was invited to do a funky event where five people were to ride together and complete a metric-ish century on gravel. The team had to stay together and work together. I was invited by Trans Iowa rider/photographer/volunteer, Steve Fuller to join him and three other guys I'd never met before to do this thing with a bunch of Des Moines area folks I didn't know either. I was a bit anxious about it all, because, well, cycling folk could be clique-ish and maybe I would not get on with these people. I had no idea what to expect.

Turns out I made some really good new friends out of the deal. The three new folks to me, Sam, Dave, and Bob, all were really great folks. I came to look forward to each April afterward as my chance to reconnect with them and have a good time. Sometimes too good of a time. Ah! Memories..... Made several on those past Gent's race weekends. Look for a special "Gent's Race Review" on the blog tomorrow which will show some of the images from the past years of this event.

Again, who knows what will happen. The organizers are still thinking and whether there is a Gent's Race later in the fall or next year, I don't know one way or the other. I do know that this could be it. And tomorrow would have been a decade of Gent's races. I'll be riding tomorrow solo and doing some reminiscing along the way. I'm sure I'll be smiling too......

The upcoming Black Mountain Cycles LaCabra

 Black Mountain Cycles Announces LaCabra:

Well, if you follow me here you know well my love for the Black Mountain Cycles brand, so this should come as no surprise. Black Mountain Cycles has teased a new model and I like it! 

Mike Varley, the brains behind the brand, designed this rig as a drop bar, rigid only mountain bike capable of accepting 650B X 2.8" or 29" X 2.4" tires. This rig will have multiple mounting points and can be set up 1X or 2X as far as drive trains are concerned.

So, a wider tire compatible MCD then? No- not really. This bike will likely not take big chain rings like the MCD, so we're talking a bike more like a Fargo. In fact, I would say that besides the LaCabra not being single speed compatible, this bike out-Fargos a Fargo. MTB drive train, big tires, and no need to have a suspension fork. The details of the frame look very "MCD-ish", but I am sure component capabilities will place this firmly in the Fargo/Cutthroat category, as far as bikes go.

Do I want one? Well.....duh! Do I need one? Hmm...... Here's where I stand on that. The LaCabra, if indeed it makes it into reality- let's not forget the changes we've seen in less than a month already - well, this could be my main mountain bike. Plus, I could see this becoming the sort of bike I'd take to certain places like West Central Nebraska, (Odin's Territory) to ride, or to a wetter event, or just to go camping with. I could see this being set up with the poofy 650B X 2.8's and my current Fargo being the 700c bike. I basically had that same set up with the old Fargo Gen 2 I used to have here. That bike carried me through most of the muddy year at DK, and at Odin's the last time I rode out there.

Anyway, it is a pipe dream until it isn't. So, we'll see......


That's it for this week! Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope that you all are staying healthy, safe, and still getting out on rides.

Friday News And Views

The new Cosmic Stallion will be available in January

New All City Cosmic Stallion:

Did I ever mention that my favorite color is purple? No? Well, it is, and since that is the case, you'd think I'd have owned a purple bike by now. I had one, but it was kinda more "eggplant" than purple. That was the old '07 El Mariachi that was Gun Koted for a "Twenty Nine Inches" review. So, that is kinda weird, I think. I cannot remember any other purple bikes I may have owned....... Nope.

So, whenever I see a good looking purple bike, I get all excited. There have been a few. I remember that Krampus from a year ago, the Vaya for 2019 in purple was killer. But I haven't seen anything I'd actually pop for until this came along. The All City Cosmic Stallion.

Now, fade paint jobs are another thing I like. AC has done several really good ones, but again- nothing I would pop for. However; this bike tics nearly all the boxes and would serve a purpose in the stable. If I were to get one, it would replace the aging Raleigh Tamland Two. Now- that bike has a lot right about it, but it is "aging out" in terms of standards, and it is getting pretty beat up. I'd like to "stop the bleeding" and preserve what is left of it due to its significance to me and to gravel grinding.

A lot of things would work for me with this AC rig, which I would change the name of, it it were mine, to "Cozstal", which is a mash-up of its weird name. But that's another story... Anyway- The AC rig has front and rear through axles, making it a perfect platform for testing wheels and tires for RidingGravel.com. It also has clearance for 700 X 47mm tires. Nice! Again, perfect for what I would need there. The head tube is also tapered, and that, unfortunately in my view, is where everything has gone, so again, a step into more current standards versus the Tamland. Rack & fender mounts also figure in to working well for what I need to do.

But like anything else, there are a couple of "not-so-good" things. The head tube angle for my size is 72.2°. Why? (sigh) I really, really think that a good gravel bike should be in the 71° range for my size and have a higher figure on the fork offset, like in the 50's of millimeters. The Tamland was in that realm, and it is nearly spot on. I would have liked to have seen a slacker head tube angle on this AC bike. I could live with that 72.2°, but it isn't the best. The other thing is the stated size for max 650B tires in the rear at 42mm. That is outright no good at all. This, more than the head angle, really cuts into the Cozstal's capabilities as a tool for Riding Gravel's uses. uggh! Too bad. Such a beautiful bike.

I still say this is something I'd pop for more so than anything else I've seen in purple for bicycles, but it juuuust misses the mark. That makes it a "maybe", and I'll keep looking for now. I still need to retire the Tamland.

The Walmer Bar from Australia's Curce Cycles

How Wide Is Too Wide?

With the rise in popularity and, therefore, money-making opportunities, in the gravel/all road/bike packing sectors, there have been a slew of specific components launched in the last several years to tickle rider's fancies. Perhaps no other component for gravel/off-roading has been so tortuously reformed and redesigned as the off-road drop bar.

There are few hits (Luxy Bar, Cowbell/Cowchipper. Midge Bar and their ilk) and more than a few misses. Some are laughably so bizarre and off target that you have to wonder how they made it off the design table. Today we are looking at another weird, flared drop, that for all I know is perfectly fine. It's the width on the one end of the scale that is a bit extreme here.

The Curve Cycles "Walmer Bar", a flared, swept drop, is available in 46cm, 50cm, 55cm, and 60cm, with the widest one being 750mm at the widest point. That's over 29 and a half inches, for you 'mercans out there. That's wide! Is that too wide? 

Well, that depends. Are you a really tall guy? Are you bike packing? Are you using these on a trail MTB bike? Then no, they are not too wide. For gravel travel for most folks? Probably far too wide, even the 46's. For reference, most flared drop bars offered on the market show 46cm as being the widest on offer.

The other thing is that these cost $189.00. yeesh! That's spendy for an aluminum bar, but I suppose they aren't a big numbers production item, need to be designed to work in a mtb-like fashion, and are from Australia, so there is all of that. Other than the really wide width though, these are not doing anything substantially different than a PRO Discover Big Flare bar, as a for instance. Those you can get for under 60 bucks. So, yeah..... Unless you have some monster handle bar roll you need to portage around on some off-the-beaten-track tour, I cannot say these move my needle all that much. But maybe for you they might. Choices are good, and this one looks pretty decent.

The Cherry Grove Community Center is on the old Almanzo course.

Spring Valley 100 To Run On Old Almanzo Course Again:

Wednesday I got an e-mail from the organizer of the "Spring Valley 100" which will use the former Almanzo course on May 30th, 2020.

This is all part of what occurred with the demise of the Almanzo name, which if you missed all that, is recapped here. Last Spring an event did occur on the former Almanzo course, but it wasn't well publicized. Originally known under the moniker "Keep Gravel Weird" it eventually landed on "Spring Valley 100" and happened out of Spring Valley with the city's blessing. While all details are not available now, this is good news for those who might miss the annual gathering in Spring Valley.

Comments: In my opinion, the demise of the Almanzo name/events is one of the biggest stories in gravel grinding from the 2019 year and maybe in the last decade. The event was often featured in publications and on websites as a prototypical gravel grinder, one that "should be on your bucket list". Even Shimano, when they were testing and doing research for their GRX group, came out to ride in the Almanzo 100. That should indicate what sort of stature this event has held in the past.

So, one cannot understate the importance of the Almanzo 100. The end game for the event was, in my opinion, regrettable, but out of the ashes we will receive two new events- The Spring Valley 100 and The Heywood Ride. One can enjoy Almanzo's past while riding the Spring Valley 100, with full support from the city, and what is promised to be a great after-party. Or one can enjoy the new event where the Almanzo was handed off to a new group eager to bring the same ethos and experiences that the Almanzo 100 once provided. Two events at the price of losing one? It might actually be a better deal.

Personally, I was very sad when the Almanzo was pulled from Spring Valley because I knew how important the Almanzo had been to the small village of Cherry Grove where, during the 2018 running of the Almanzo, I learned that the donations riders so freely gave at the Community Center provided enough funds to maintain the building for a third of the year's budget. That's impressive, and amazing when you understand that the donation bucket was not advertised in any way, and no prior mentions were ever made about it to the riders. That's the sort of thing gravel grinders are great at- charitable kindness, and these small communities thrive from the presence of gravel events either based in, or that run through, their communities.  Bravo to the folks behind the Spring Valley 100 for making a scene like that possible again in 2020!

UPDATED: 12/6/19: Marty Larson of the Heywood Ride called me to say that they were scrambling to get details out ASAP. I am supposed to be meeting with he and Ben Witt, the other Race Director, soon. I also noted on Facebook that there was an indication by Marty that all three courses would be in play out of Northfield that were used for the 2019 Almanzo. (100, 165, and 380 miles) Ben Witt also chimed in to say that "This is not a rebranded Almanzo, but an entirely new event." Stay tuned.....

 Life Time Events Purchases The Crusher In The Tushar:

The Life Time Events acquisition of gravel events is in the news again as Life Time has reportedly purchased the Crusher In The Tushar event. No details have been released as of now, nor has anything detailed on how Life time plans to handle the successful event started by former Pro roadie, Bruce Swindlehurst.

Comments: What we do know is that at the time that the Big Sugar was announced recently, Life Time events stated through one of the organizers that its intentions were to have six gravel events under its umbrella of events in a few years or so. Life Time currently owns and operates Leadville, The Lutzen 99er, Chequamegon 40, Dirty Kanza events, and the Big Sugar Gravel NWA events. Of those, the DK and Big Sugar are gravel based events. The addition of the Crusher brings them halfway to their goal, as stated recently.

So, let's think about this. The DK is at the end of May, the Crusher is mid-July, Big Sugar is October. Add in a June event, and August event, and maybe a Springtime one. Probably another West Coast based event in the SoCal region, perhaps. One on the East Coast. Maybe one South-central one. (Texas?) Six events spread across the season. Life Time sets up a points championship across age groups and single speed, fat bike, tandem. You get the idea? It makes a lot of corporate business sense to have your customers buying into an eco-system of events where expectations for each would be the same, formatting, structure, and all. The experience would be similar at each, so you get "repeat customers".


Watch to see if I'm close on this.

That's it for this week! Get out and ride if you can and I'll see you again here with new content next week.

Friday News And Views

The new Cosmic Stallion will be available in January

New All City Cosmic Stallion:

Did I ever mention that my favorite color is purple? No? Well, it is, and since that is the case, you'd think I'd have owned a purple bike by now. I had one, but it was kinda more "eggplant" than purple. That was the old '07 El Mariachi that was Gun Koted for a "Twenty Nine Inches" review. So, that is kinda weird, I think. I cannot remember any other purple bikes I may have owned....... Nope.

So, whenever I see a good looking purple bike, I get all excited. There have been a few. I remember that Krampus from a year ago, the Vaya for 2019 in purple was killer. But I haven't seen anything I'd actually pop for until this came along. The All City Cosmic Stallion.

Now, fade paint jobs are another thing I like. AC has done several really good ones, but again- nothing I would pop for. However; this bike tics nearly all the boxes and would serve a purpose in the stable. If I were to get one, it would replace the aging Raleigh Tamland Two. Now- that bike has a lot right about it, but it is "aging out" in terms of standards, and it is getting pretty beat up. I'd like to "stop the bleeding" and preserve what is left of it due to its significance to me and to gravel grinding.

A lot of things would work for me with this AC rig, which I would change the name of, it it were mine, to "Cozstal", which is a mash-up of its weird name. But that's another story... Anyway- The AC rig has front and rear through axles, making it a perfect platform for testing wheels and tires for RidingGravel.com. It also has clearance for 700 X 47mm tires. Nice! Again, perfect for what I would need there. The head tube is also tapered, and that, unfortunately in my view, is where everything has gone, so again, a step into more current standards versus the Tamland. Rack & fender mounts also figure in to working well for what I need to do.

But like anything else, there are a couple of "not-so-good" things. The head tube angle for my size is 72.2°. Why? (sigh) I really, really think that a good gravel bike should be in the 71° range for my size and have a higher figure on the fork offset, like in the 50's of millimeters. The Tamland was in that realm, and it is nearly spot on. I would have liked to have seen a slacker head tube angle on this AC bike. I could live with that 72.2°, but it isn't the best. The other thing is the stated size for max 650B tires in the rear at 42mm. That is outright no good at all. This, more than the head angle, really cuts into the Cozstal's capabilities as a tool for Riding Gravel's uses. uggh! Too bad. Such a beautiful bike.

I still say this is something I'd pop for more so than anything else I've seen in purple for bicycles, but it juuuust misses the mark. That makes it a "maybe", and I'll keep looking for now. I still need to retire the Tamland.

The Walmer Bar from Australia's Curce Cycles

How Wide Is Too Wide?

With the rise in popularity and, therefore, money-making opportunities, in the gravel/all road/bike packing sectors, there have been a slew of specific components launched in the last several years to tickle rider's fancies. Perhaps no other component for gravel/off-roading has been so tortuously reformed and redesigned as the off-road drop bar.

There are few hits (Luxy Bar, Cowbell/Cowchipper. Midge Bar and their ilk) and more than a few misses. Some are laughably so bizarre and off target that you have to wonder how they made it off the design table. Today we are looking at another weird, flared drop, that for all I know is perfectly fine. It's the width on the one end of the scale that is a bit extreme here.

The Curve Cycles "Walmer Bar", a flared, swept drop, is available in 46cm, 50cm, 55cm, and 60cm, with the widest one being 750mm at the widest point. That's over 29 and a half inches, for you 'mercans out there. That's wide! Is that too wide? 

Well, that depends. Are you a really tall guy? Are you bike packing? Are you using these on a trail MTB bike? Then no, they are not too wide. For gravel travel for most folks? Probably far too wide, even the 46's. For reference, most flared drop bars offered on the market show 46cm as being the widest on offer.

The other thing is that these cost $189.00. yeesh! That's spendy for an aluminum bar, but I suppose they aren't a big numbers production item, need to be designed to work in a mtb-like fashion, and are from Australia, so there is all of that. Other than the really wide width though, these are not doing anything substantially different than a PRO Discover Big Flare bar, as a for instance. Those you can get for under 60 bucks. So, yeah..... Unless you have some monster handle bar roll you need to portage around on some off-the-beaten-track tour, I cannot say these move my needle all that much. But maybe for you they might. Choices are good, and this one looks pretty decent.

The Cherry Grove Community Center is on the old Almanzo course.

Spring Valley 100 To Run On Old Almanzo Course Again:

Wednesday I got an e-mail from the organizer of the "Spring Valley 100" which will use the former Almanzo course on May 30th, 2020.

This is all part of what occurred with the demise of the Almanzo name, which if you missed all that, is recapped here. Last Spring an event did occur on the former Almanzo course, but it wasn't well publicized. Originally known under the moniker "Keep Gravel Weird" it eventually landed on "Spring Valley 100" and happened out of Spring Valley with the city's blessing. While all details are not available now, this is good news for those who might miss the annual gathering in Spring Valley.

Comments: In my opinion, the demise of the Almanzo name/events is one of the biggest stories in gravel grinding from the 2019 year and maybe in the last decade. The event was often featured in publications and on websites as a prototypical gravel grinder, one that "should be on your bucket list". Even Shimano, when they were testing and doing research for their GRX group, came out to ride in the Almanzo 100. That should indicate what sort of stature this event has held in the past.

So, one cannot understate the importance of the Almanzo 100. The end game for the event was, in my opinion, regrettable, but out of the ashes we will receive two new events- The Spring Valley 100 and The Heywood Ride. One can enjoy Almanzo's past while riding the Spring Valley 100, with full support from the city, and what is promised to be a great after-party. Or one can enjoy the new event where the Almanzo was handed off to a new group eager to bring the same ethos and experiences that the Almanzo 100 once provided. Two events at the price of losing one? It might actually be a better deal.

Personally, I was very sad when the Almanzo was pulled from Spring Valley because I knew how important the Almanzo had been to the small village of Cherry Grove where, during the 2018 running of the Almanzo, I learned that the donations riders so freely gave at the Community Center provided enough funds to maintain the building for a third of the year's budget. That's impressive, and amazing when you understand that the donation bucket was not advertised in any way, and no prior mentions were ever made about it to the riders. That's the sort of thing gravel grinders are great at- charitable kindness, and these small communities thrive from the presence of gravel events either based in, or that run through, their communities.  Bravo to the folks behind the Spring Valley 100 for making a scene like that possible again in 2020!

UPDATED: 12/6/19: Marty Larson of the Heywood Ride called me to say that they were scrambling to get details out ASAP. I am supposed to be meeting with he and Ben Witt, the other Race Director, soon. I also noted on Facebook that there was an indication by Marty that all three courses would be in play out of Northfield that were used for the 2019 Almanzo. (100, 165, and 380 miles) Ben Witt also chimed in to say that "This is not a rebranded Almanzo, but an entirely new event." Stay tuned.....

 Life Time Events Purchases The Crusher In The Tushar:

The Life Time Events acquisition of gravel events is in the news again as Life Time has reportedly purchased the Crusher In The Tushar event. No details have been released as of now, nor has anything detailed on how Life time plans to handle the successful event started by former Pro roadie, Bruce Swindlehurst.

Comments: What we do know is that at the time that the Big Sugar was announced recently, Life Time events stated through one of the organizers that its intentions were to have six gravel events under its umbrella of events in a few years or so. Life Time currently owns and operates Leadville, The Lutzen 99er, Chequamegon 40, Dirty Kanza events, and the Big Sugar Gravel NWA events. Of those, the DK and Big Sugar are gravel based events. The addition of the Crusher brings them halfway to their goal, as stated recently.

So, let's think about this. The DK is at the end of May, the Crusher is mid-July, Big Sugar is October. Add in a June event, and August event, and maybe a Springtime one. Probably another West Coast based event in the SoCal region, perhaps. One on the East Coast. Maybe one South-central one. (Texas?) Six events spread across the season. Life Time sets up a points championship across age groups and single speed, fat bike, tandem. You get the idea? It makes a lot of corporate business sense to have your customers buying into an eco-system of events where expectations for each would be the same, formatting, structure, and all. The experience would be similar at each, so you get "repeat customers".


Watch to see if I'm close on this.

That's it for this week! Get out and ride if you can and I'll see you again here with new content next week.